A known outside door handle assembly is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 8(1996)-4367. This outside door handle assembly includes a door handle which is operated to open and close a door, a case fixed to the door panel for rotatably retaining the door handle, and a spring disposed on the case to generate an elastic force between the case and the door handle.
The door handle used in the outside door handle assembly includes a pair of arm portions disposed at right and left portions of the door handle. The case is provided with two pairs of stay portions which are disposed at the right and left portions of the case respectively. Each of the stay portions includes a groove portion (possessing an overhang portion) and a concave portion. An element of the arm portion passes through the groove portion so as to fit the element of the arm portion into the concave portion so that the door handle is rotatably mounted on the case.
In this known outside door handle assembly, because each of the stay portions must be bent in order to pass the element of the door handle through the over hang portions when each of the element is fit into the concave portion of the case during assembly, the door handle must be pressed to the case with a large force.
Further, when the outside door handle assembly is assembled, the spring is moved into the case in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the door handle is mounted on the case. This has an adverse affect on the convenience of the assembly procedure.
In an attempt to try to avoid the above disadvantages, the axis or the over hang portion can be reduced in size so that the door handle can be installed on the case with a small force. However, the door handle is then apt to fall out of the case.
In light of the foregoing, a need exists for an outside door handle assembly which is convenient to assemble and is not susceptible to falling out of the case.